UW-Whitewater hosted UW-La Crosse on Thursday in Whitewater and split with the Eagles; winning the first game 9-8 and losing the second 3-2. The Warhawks came from behind in game one to win, while UW-La Crosse did the same in game number two for the victory.
game one box score
game two box score
Photo Gallery photos courtesy of Tim Gumz
Photo Gallery photos courtesy of Joy Kowald
The Warhawks fell behind early in game one by a score of 4-0. A run in the top of the first and three in the top of the second gave the Eagles the early lead. Whitewater scored three runs in the bottom of the first to narrow the margin. Mike Kenseth (Milwaukee/West Allis Hale) singled to drive in two of the three runs and Ryan Leavitt (Merrill/Merrill) singled to score the other.
UW-La Crosse scored two more in the top of the third to take a 6-3 lead. Another run by the Warhawks in the bottom of the third on a
Nick Rechlitz (Milwaukee/Marquette) RBI double trimmed the lead to two for UW-L. That gap shrunk even more in the bottom of the fourth on a
Sam Petrasko (Appleton/East) grounder that scored
Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker).
The Eagles plated two in the top of the fifth to take an 8-5 lead but UW-W answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at eight.
Kevin Zalnis (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) knocked in both runs in the seventh with a two run homer, his second home run of the season.
Kyle Lee (Beaver Dam/Beaver Dam) and
CJ Herrforth (Hartland/Hartland) combined to keep the Eagles from scoring anymore and preserved the tie for the Warhawks until the bottom of the ninth. After Beyer reached base on a hit by pitch, stole second, and advanced to third on a fielder's choice, a costly wild pitch by UW-La Crosse allowed him to score the game winning run.
The game featured twelve doubles between the two teams; UW-L had eight and the Warhawks had four. Zalnis and Kenseth each recorded two hits and two RBIs in the game. Leavitt also drove in two runs. As a team the Warhawks went 12x36 from the plate. Herrforth earned the victory and is 1-0 this season.
Game two was much lower scoring but the Eagles did the same thing the Warhawks did in game one, come from behind to win.
UW-W scored in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Leavitt to take a 1-0 lead. The Eagles took the lead from UW-W for themselves in the top of the fourth on a Jay Fanta two-run homerun.
The 'Hawks tied things up in the bottom of the sixth on a Petrasko solo shot, but that was it for the Warhawks in the run column. UW-L scored the game winning run in the top of the ninth when the Warhawks walked in a run with the bases loaded.
Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) and
Travis Wessels (Tomah/Tomah) both went 2x4 and were the only two Warhawks to record multiple hits.
Brandon Walczak pitched eight and a third for UW-L and earned his second victory of the season.
The Warhawks are 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). UW-La Crosse is 13-5 overall and 6-2 in the WIAC.
The two teams will face-off again on Friday in Whitewater at Prucha field beginning at noon.
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